View full sizeDick Blume / The Post StandardThe Syracuse Developmental Center as seen from the air on June 18.

Syracuse, NY -- After months of waiting, “Plan B” will be revealed today.

Syracuse schools Superintendent Dan Lowengard said he will brief the school board today on an alternative plan to move children out of Dr. Weeks Elementary School early in 2011 to allow long-awaited renovations to begin.

The original plan — to move 1,600 pupils from Dr. Weeks and H.W. Smith K-8 School into temporary classrooms at the Syracuse Developmental Center — finally died Tuesday when private developers failed to complete their purchase of the facility by the deadline set under their 15-year lease with the city.

Lowengard said Plan B involves moving Weeks pupils to three separate sites, which is less desirable but will allow the renovation to proceed on schedule. “We’ve got another plan,” he said. “It’s not as good, because kids will be in three sites rather than one.”

The school district’s original plan was for Texas-based developer Health Consortium-USA to buy the SDC and spend $13 million renovating it. Health Consortium later said it could not finance the deal without modifying the lease, which city officials declined to do.

“There’s been no closing,” said Jim Benjamin, one of the current owners of the SDC.

Now that the deal is dead, children from H.W. Smith will not be moved until next fall at the earliest, Lowengard said. Renovations can begin in April or May without moving the students, he said.

Mayor Stephanie Miner has criticized school officials for their handling of the Health Consortium deal. “I think this is a good example of dealing with a developer who does not have experience with this type of contract, a multi-million-dollar contract,” said Juanita Perez Williams, the city’s corporation counsel.

Lowengard said other developers have expressed interest in the SDC property. “In the meantime, we’re moving ahead and we won’t miss any of the construction deadlines,” he said.

Miner does not agree. She said the Dr. Weeks project will have to wait because the lack of swing space delayed bond financing for the project.